Howard Kurtz apologizes on CNN for errors

Howard Kurtz took to his “Reliable Sources” show on CNN on Sunday to apologize for his “inexcusable” erroneous report last week about NBA player Jason Collins and for a string of past mistakes that the media critic admitted he was sometimes too slow to correct.

During Kurtz’s extraordinary 15-minute long confession of journalistic sins, he repeatedly said he’s learned a lesson and promised to double- and triple-check all his facts in the future to win back the trust of readers and viewers. It was a humbling appearance for someone who was once regarded as the nation’s leading media critic.

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Howard Kurtz apologizes on CNN

Dylan Byers runs down Kurtz's mistakes

A chastened Kurtz remained composed throughout tough questioning from two media reporters during the segment and at times he looked directly into the camera to assure viewers that he’s a changed person.

“This show has always been about turning a critical lens on the media,” Kurtz said as he opened “Reliable Sources” during which he was questioned by POLITICO’s Dylan Byers and NPR’s David Folkenflik. “This time the media mistake was mine — a big mistake, more than one, in fact.”

“Here is what happened and here is why I did what I did and why it was clearly wrongly handled by me,” he continued. “On Monday, I read the Sports Illustrated article by Jason Collins, the first pro male-team athlete to come out publicly as gay. I read it too fast and carelessly missed that Jason Collins said he was engaged previously to a woman and [I] then wrote and commented that he was wrong to keep that from readers when, in fact, I was the one who was wrong.”

Kurtz continued: “My logic between what happened between Jason Collins and his former fiance and what was and wasn’t disclosed — in hindsight, well, I was wrong to even raise that and showed a lack of sensitivity to the issue. Also, I didn’t give him a chance to respond to my account before I wrote it and in addition my first correction to the story was not as complete and as full as it should have been.”

Kurtz’s approach on CNN very much had the feel of the time-tested survival strategy of a politician trying to salvage a career after being caught in a high-profile transgression. He was calm and serious as he admitted mistakes past and present, vowed to learn from them, issued heart-felt apologies to all affected by his actions, and asked that he be judged on the breadth of his work, not just a handful of incidents.

The apology comes after CNN announced last week that “Reliable Sources” is under review.

During the show, the media critic turned to the camera and spoke directly to viewers, saying, “This is not a ritual for me where you just come on camera and say you’re sorry and hope to move on. I’m truly sorry about what happened. I believe deeply in good journalism and fair journalism, and I am determined to learn from this episode and minimize the chances of anything like this happening again.”